Scaling agricultural mechanization services in smallholder farming systems: Case studies from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America



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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102792
DOI: 
10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102792
Provider: 
Licensing of resource: 
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
Type: 
journal article
Journal: 
Agricultural Systems
Number: 
April 2020
Volume: 
180
Author(s): 
Van Loon J.
Woltering L.
Krupnik T.J.
Baudron F.
Boa M.
Govaerts B.
Publisher(s): 
Description: 

There is great untapped potential for farm mechanization to support rural development initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. As technology transfer of large machinery from high-income countries was ineffective during the 1980s and 90s, mechanization options were developed appropriate to resource poor farmers cultivating small and scattered plots. More recently, projects that aim to increase the adoption of farm machinery have tended to target service providers rather than individual farmers. This paper uses the Scaling Scan tool to assess three project case studies designed to scale different Mechanization Service Provider Models (MSPMs) in Mexico, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh. It provides a useful framework to assess the gap between international lessons learned on scaling captured in forty tactical questions over ten “scaling ingredients” as perceived by stakeholders involved in the projects, as well as private sector actors and government employees. Although at first sight the case studies seem to successfully reach high numbers of end users, the assessment exposes issues around the sustainable and transformative nature of the interventions

Publication year: 
2020
Keywords: 
Appropriate mechanization
Service models
Enabling environment
Rural entrepreneurship
Transition framework